Since he was sworn in a little over two years ago, President Joe Biden has signed legislation and executive orders that have added $5 trillion to the national debt over the next 10 years. Over those same two years, the interest the federal government must pay on its debt has doubled from $345 billion a year to nearly $700 billion. The Congressional Budget Office estimates those interest costs will double again within a decade.
The legislation isn’t perfect. But it is a positive step in the right direction, and every House Republican should vote for it. Critically, if House Republicans fail to pass this spending reduction plan, they will have no leverage over Democrats in the debt limit debate, and the stage will be set for the federal government’s disastrous spending trajectory to continue unchanged. Whoever votes with Democrats against these spending cuts is essentially voting for a clean debt limit hike.
The bill also returns $60 billion in unspent COVID-19 stimulus money back to the Treasury, an essential move to help combat inflation. Biden’s $400 billion giveaway to wealthy college graduates who don’t want to pay their bills is repealed, as is over $270 billion in corporate welfare for electric vehicles and other alternative energy projects.